The present invention relates to a conveyor for clothes hangers provided with hanging hooks of the type described in the precharacterizing clause of Patent claim 1 below. Accordingly, the conveyor comprises a chain, the hanging hooks of the clothes hangers resting directly in depressions in the links of the chain.
Conveyors for clothes hangers, that is to say hangers intended for storing and transporting articles of clothing, exist in a number of known versions, usually comprising wires or chains as the main elements in the conveying track. In this connection, the chain conveyor represents one of the most common types of conveyor and comprises in a conventional manner an endless chain constructed from a plurality of chain links, which runs between a first chain wheel located at one end of the conveyor and a second chain wheel located at the other end of the conveyor.
The chains of the conveyor are often provided with pushers for the hanging hooks of the clothes hangers, for example in the form of projections from the chain links. However, such pushers are required chiefly in conveyors with an essentially vertical conveying direction, while conveyors with an essentially horizontal conveying direction can instead make use of depressions in conventional chain links as pushers.
A number of chain conveyors may also form part of a larger conveying system for clothes hangers, in which inclined slide rails interconnect said chain conveyors in specially adapted configurations for, for example, the ready-made clothing industry or laundries. In this connection, an individual chain conveyor may, for example, be provided with clothes hangers from a feed-in slide rail which is inclined down towards the chain and from which the hanging hooks of the hangers drop down onto the chain and are conveyed along the chain conveyor to its feed-out end, where they are transferred to a downwardly inclined feed-out slide rail.
In a conventional chain conveyor for clothes hangers, the chain is driven by a drive motor being coupled by means of a drive shaft to a chain wheel at one end of the conveyor. In this connection, a problem exists when the hanging hooks of the hangers pass the drive end of the conveyor, for example its feed-out end, in so far as the free ends of the hooks strike the drive shaft and are then forced to climb over the drive shaft. In unfavorable cases, and especially at high feed-in speeds, this climbing can result in the hangers being misaligned with costly operational stoppages as a consequence.
In order to avoid the free end of the hook striking the drive shaft, the free end can be made shorter, so that contact with the drive shaft is avoided, but such a design of the hook means that its ability to retain the hanger safely even when subject to lateral loading along the curves of the conveyor system is drastically reducedxe2x80x94with reduced operational safety as a consequence.
However, German patent specification DE 43 19 164 A1 describes a solution to the problem mentioned above. The undesirable contact between the free ends of the hanging hooks and the drive shaft is avoided in this case by the driving chain wheel, together with the drive shaft and the drive motor, being arranged at an angle. This angled arrangement nevertheless leads to other disadvantages, such as the drive unit being more bulky at the same time as its assembly becomes relatively complicated and thus more expensive than a conventional horizontal assembly.
The solution to the problems mentioned above is achieved in a conveyor having the characteristics indicated in the appended Patent claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims.
Accordingly, a conveyor for clothes hangers provided with hanging hooks is disclosed, which comprises an endless chain which is constructed from a plurality of chain links and runs between a first return axis located at one end of the conveyor and a second return axis located at the other end of the conveyor, so that the chain, by being guided around said return axes, is divided into an upper and a lower portion, the hanging hooks of the clothes hangers resting directly, during conveying, in depressions in the chain links which constitute the upper portion of the chain, and a drive motor arranged so as, by means of a drive wheel, to drive the chain in the desired direction. The invention is characterized in that the lower portion of the chain is arranged so as, between said first and second return axes, to be deflected laterally by means of deflecting members so that a deflected part of the lower portion of the chain is made to run parallel in a laterally displaced manner in relation to its upper portion, and in that said drive wheel is in driving engagement with the deflected part of the lower portion of the chain.
In a preferred embodiment, said deflecting members bear against lateral surfaces on the chain links during deflection.
Furthermore, at least one first deflecting member bears against one lateral surface of the chain links, while at least one second deflecting member bears against the other lateral surface of the chain links.
In a favorable embodiment, the deflecting members are divided into four groups, two of which bear against one lateral surface of the chain links, while two bear against the other lateral surface of the chain links.
In a preferred embodiment, said deflecting members consist of one or more rollers.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, said deflecting members consist of one or more guide rails.
In an advantageous embodiment, a chain-tensioning arrangement is also located in the region of the deflected part of the lower portion of the chain.
Advantageously, the chain-tensioning arrangement comprises a primary tensioning wheel for rough tensioning of the chain during assembly of the conveyor, and a secondary tensioning wheel for fine tensioning of the chain.
Finally, in an expedient embodiment of the invention, an inductive sensor is located in close proximity to a chain wheel in the region of the deflected part of the lower portion of the chain, said sensor being adapted so as to indicate the feed speed of the conveyor by inductive sensing of the passing teeth of the chain wheel.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention are indicated in the detailed description below of a preferred embodiment.